First Isro-Nasa collaboration satellite NISAR’s antenna reflector deployed in space

The joint Earth observation satellite NISAR, developed by ISRO and NASA, has achieved a major milestone with the successful deployment of its massive antenna reflector in space.

NASA confirmed on Friday that the stepwise “blooming” of the 39-foot (12-metre) diameter antenna was completed, paving the way for one of the most advanced Earth-monitoring missions ever undertaken.

Launched on July 30 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is the first collaborative satellite between the two space agencies. Weighing over 2.8 tonnes and costing $1.3 billion, NISAR is also the world’s most expensive Earth observation satellite.

Designed to map and monitor Earth’s landforms, the satellite will track subtle shifts in ice sheets, glaciers, forests, oceans, soil moisture, and even seismic and volcanic activity. Equipped with dual synthetic aperture radars — an L-band system from NASA and an S-band system from ISRO — NISAR can penetrate clouds and conduct high-resolution imaging in all weather conditions.

“From innovative technology to research and modeling to delivering science to help inform decisions, the data NISAR is poised to gather will have a major impact on how global communities and stakeholders improve infrastructure, prepare for and recover from natural disasters, and maintain food security,” said Karen St Germain, Director of NASA’s Earth Science Division.

Currently, ISRO and NASA engineers are fine-tuning the satellite’s systems during a 65-day engineering phase. The first full-frame scientific data is expected by early October, while the mission’s actual science operations are scheduled to begin around mid-October. By early November, NISAR will enter its scientific commissioning phase, with datasets expected to be made available to researchers worldwide.

With its unprecedented imaging capabilities, NISAR is set to transform how scientists and policymakers understand climate change, natural hazards, and the Earth’s fragile ecosystems.